Q. I have a chair from my grandmother's house that I can't I.D. It has spindle legs and a seat like a Windsor and eight spindles per arm. The arms are curved and the slatback is carved with the face of the north wind (?) with an upholstered panel above that. The slat back is solid. Another clue - the chair was originally owned by Granny's sister-in-law who was married to a fellow from Sweden. Could the face be a Norse God?

A. It could be a Norse god. It isn't the North wind as commonly depicted. Your chair is what is known generally as a "face" chair, a very popular 19th century Victorian affectation. Faces of mythical creatures, ogres, the Celtic "green" man, the North Wind etc. were very much in vogue as the Gothic Revival of the early 19th century got underway. Faces became widespread in the later part of the century with the advent of machinery to help with the carving. European immigrant wood carvers, bringing their own cultural demons with them, often carved the pattern for the spindle carver machine to follow. Then they finished off the details by hand. Towards the end of the century the bloom was just about off the face chair rose. More sober patterns like the Arts and Crafts movement were beginning to prevail and ruffles and flourishes like face chairs were out of favor in the high fashion circles but naturally some production continued into the 20th century.

Your chair appears to be a factory made piece from the very late 19th century or, more likely, early 20th century. The scale is a little unusual but there were many unusual things from that period. Like the stand discussed in the previous question, your piece has the appearance of mahogany but is almost certainly not. It is probably aniline dyed birch to simulate mahogany. The 1902 Sears, Roebuck catalog advertised this construction and finish as superior in strength to solid mahogany and went to great lengths to explain the process.

Q. I am stuck on a project maybe you can help me with. I decided to refinish the top of a  well made but extremely well used little drop leaf table made a company called Conant-Ball. I believe it is maple but the finish is very dark. I carefully took off the finish on the top using acetone and rags. I didn't use any steel wool or sandpaper so I could preserve the original color. After it was stripped it looked fine. The color was a little lighter but it still was close enough to look OK. The problem occurred when I put on the first coat of finish. I am using polyurethane applied with a rag. After the first application dried the table was WAY too light. I tried to stain it darker with some stain but after letting it dry overnight it still pulled off when I tried to apply the next coat of finish. Do I have to strip it and start over or can I save it from here?

A. Your table is indeed a well made piece. Conant-Ball is one of the old line quality manufacturers in Boston specializing in Colonial Revival reproductions. The problem with your project is that since the table is maple (or a combination of maple and birch) it is too hard to accept a dark, oil based wiping stain. The original finish undoubtedly had some color added to it so that much of the original color was ON the table, not IN it. If you had sanded your top you would have had pretty much the same problem in getting the hard light top to match the dark base.

The answer to the problem is called a gel stain. This newer variety of stain actually has a urethane base that hardens when it dries and allows you to increase the depth of the color by adding more layers of stain without pulling the pigment as would happen with an oil based wiping stain. Gel stains are the consistency of peanut butter but are easily applied with paper towels. It takes a little practice but it can be done. The neat thing about gel stains happens in your case. If you are using a urethane (or polyurethane) finish and need to adjust the color, gel stains allow you to do that. Now that you have one thin coat on the top and can see how far the color needs to come down, you can adjust it with gel. You may have to mix different colors of gel stain to get the right match but that's easily done on a palate of cardboard or formica. After you get the right mix apply it with a paper towel directly over the first coat of finish. Apply it evenly but thinly. After it dries, at least over night, longer if you can stand it, you can then continue to apply your finish. Just use a light touch over the cured stain for your next application.

The gel stain will also let you do spot coloring such as on turns and edges that a uniformly tinted finish does not handle as well as spot color. gel stains are generally available in home stores and better paint stores. They are not cheap and they are not all the same quality. Shop around and find the one you like.

Send your comments, questions and pictures to me at PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423 or fmtaylor@aol.com